


Twice Blessed

by AccioInvisibilityCloak



Category: Lovely Little Losers, Nothing Much to Do
Genre: Duke-Hobbes Family, F/M, Fluff, Parenthood, day in the life, some slight making out near the end because they're still human
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-26
Updated: 2017-08-26
Packaged: 2018-12-20 07:28:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11916066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AccioInvisibilityCloak/pseuds/AccioInvisibilityCloak
Summary: Benedick’s dark hair, Beatrice’s nose, blue eyes that could have come from either or both of them- Olivia Hermione Duke-Hobbes is a perfect combination of her mum and dad, but she’s also a tiny little person all her own. It hasn’t stopped amazing Ben that she exists, since the day she was born. That’s true of both his children, really. He never knew this kind of love was possible, until they came along.Ben and Bea are parents to two beautiful children. Life has changed a lot since they were in high school and uni, but they still have each other, and they're happy. Just sickly sweet ridiculous family fluff.





	Twice Blessed

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: I'd been tossing around ideas for this fic, starting with the title, for ages now. Then recently, an Anon ask on my Tumblr requested I write something involving Beadick and pregnancy or parenthood. So I finished this fic for them, taking the opportunity to scratch another WIP off my list! I hope you enjoy! (Also, who knew there were so many synonyms for 'stroller'?! I hope 'pram' sounds New Zealandy enough for you. I have fun researching slang for these fics, lol. Although NZ football/soccer, I did not research, so make of those mentions what you will. Also the Duke-Hobbeses live in Wellington, just so you know. And their son's middle name is Ben's dad's name.)

*******

         When Ben comes in to check on Olivia that morning, the three-year-old is already wide awake and smiling as she makes her stuffed animal giraffe canter around the purple bedspread Grandma Hermione had bought for her.

“Daddy!” Olivia exclaims, holding out her arms. Ben picks up the giraffe toy that has fallen off the bed and gives it back to her, lifting her onto his lap for a hug.

“Ohhh, hi, sweet girl,” he says, unable to keep from smiling too. Even as tired as he is, the sound of his daughter’s laugh as he tickles her tummy is the most amazing thing in the world.

Benedick’s dark hair, Beatrice’s nose, blue eyes that could have come from either or both of them- Olivia Hermione Duke-Hobbes is a perfect combination of her mum and dad, but she’s also a tiny little _person_ all her own. It hasn’t stopped amazing Ben that she exists, since the day she was born. That’s true of both his children, really. He never knew this kind of love was possible, until they came along.

“All right, Liv,” Ben groans as he picks her up. “Let’s get you dressed and ready for the day.”

*******

       While Ben is wrangling Olivia into tiny jeans and her sequined flamingo t-shirt, Beatrice is with the baby in the other room. By the time his wife arrives downstairs, Ben already has Olivia in her big-girl chair, where she’s messily devouring a bowl of cereal.

Beatrice kisses her daughter on the top of the head as she heads for the coffee maker, her baby boy balanced on her hip. She runs a hand affectionately over the tufts of blonde hair on James’ little head. It might darken as he gets older, but for now, the baby is as fair as his mummy.

      It had been a difficult pregnancy with James. Benedick still doesn’t like thinking about it. Beatrice just thinks he worries too much.

Beatrice had disliked being pregnant with Olivia too, but James had made her even more sick and sore and tired all the time, and towards the end, to her fury, she’d been put on bed rest. Ben, of course, had been frantic with worry about her, though she had sat in bed poring over accordion folders full of legal documents and texting her law partner Portia, right up until her due date.

James Byron Duke-Hobbes had come right on time, and Beatrice had said, once the pain was behind her and her baby was safe and healthy and resting in her arms, that she hoped he’d always be on time for things. She herself had a habit of coming into work late, especially after the baby came, because once her maternity leave was over she’d had a very hard time leaving him.

The same had been true, to an even worse degree, when she’d gone back to work for the first time after Olivia was born. Beatrice hates the whole experience of pregnancy, but she loves her children very much. It’s only down to Ben being with them all day that she feels able to live with herself for leaving them at home without her. It’s one of her favorite things to complain about. That, and the unnecessary gendering of children’s toys.

Beatrice sighs at the thought of leaving her family for yet another day, wondering if this will ever get easier. Jamie is almost a year old, and it’s still difficult.

      “Morning, love,” Ben says, sidling up to kiss Bea on the cheek, just below the lone curl escaping from her businesslike bun. He kisses the baby, too. “Morning, Jamie.”

“Good morning, babe. What are you up to today?” Bea asks, putting James in his high chair so her hands will be free when the coffee is done.

“Oh, I thought I’d take them on a little walk this morning, try to spot some birds,” Ben says, stubbornly making tea instead. “What would you think if we stopped by your office for lunch? Is your schedule light enough?”

“Oh my gosh, yes! That would be amazing, I would love to see you all,” Beatrice says. “God knows I could use a pick-me-up after meeting with Mrs. Rathbone again today. Honestly, if I’d known how _awful_ some of my clients would be, I would not have gotten into divorce law.”

“Some people just aren’t as clever as us, Bea,” Ben shakes his head. “They don’t understand that relationships are supposed to be both hard work _and_ fun. You can’t have one or the other. We have plenty of both.”

“I know! We are the best marrieds in the game,” Bea laughs, and they high-five.

“Yay!” Olivia chimes in, clapping her hands, as Jamie gurgles in his chair.

“That’s right, Liv,” says Ben, taking Bea into his arms in a comforting hug. “No matter how many nasty clients Mummy has to play nice with, I’ll always be right here to tease her about it when she comes home.”

“Thank goodness for that,” Beatrice laughs, quickly kissing Ben.

*******

       The little family enjoys breakfast together, and all too soon, it’s time for Beatrice to leave for work. She distributes plenty of kisses to Liv and Jamie. Ben hugs her again and promises to be in touch about lunch, and Bea is on her way.

       There’s not really anything on the calendar for Ben or the kids today, so it’s a perfect chance to head to the Zealandia bird sanctuary for a walk. When teeth are brushed and jackets and shoes put on, Ben loads Jamie into his pram and takes Olivia’s hand, and they’re out the door.

Olivia likes to run ahead and chase the birds. Ben is teaching her to whistle, and every time she wanders too far he calls her back to his side with a whistled birdsong and she comes running to Daddy to learn the new music.

Ben excitedly tells the kids all about the species of birds they see, even though Olivia’s only half listening and James is too little to understand. No matter how old he gets, there’s still something about watching the birds that keeps Ben enthralled.

       “Mr. Hobbes!” A teenage girl and her two friends appear in the pathway, waving at Ben. Squinting, he recognizes the girls as former students of his, from the high school.

“Good morning, girls,” he calls. “How’s school? Your new English teacher knows her Marlowe, I hope?”

“Not as much as you, Mr. H,” another of the girls says. “Aww! Is this your baby? He’s so cute!”

“This is James, and his big sister, Olivia,” Ben says proudly. “And thank you, my wife and I are convinced he’s the cutest baby in the world, and he’s doing it on purpose so we won’t be too upset when he wakes us in the night.”

“We miss you, Mr. H,” the first girl says. “Say hi to Mrs. H for us!”

Ben smirks as he thinks about how annoyed ‘Mrs. H’ would be about that title if she was here. “She goes by Ms. Duke, but I will. Study hard, girls. Make me proud!”

The girls head off down the path again, and Ben shakes his head. It never gets any less weird, bumping into students out in public. He feels like such an old person whenever he’s tempted to say “shouldn’t you be in school?”

      “Oh! Olivia, no! Come back here,” Ben shouts, forgetting all about the students. His new priority is protecting his daughter and the large bird she’s chasing from one another.

Ben scoops Olivia up and away from the bird, to her disappointment. Disaster very narrowly averted.

*******

         Nerissa, the office manager at Beatrice’s law firm, smiles brightly when she sees the kids. Ben says their hellos, Olivia hiding bashfully behind his legs. Jamie is asleep in the pram.

“Beatrice is almost ready to take lunch,” Nerissa tells them. “You three are more than welcome to the waiting area.”

“Thanks so much,” Ben says, moving to sit down with the pram nearby, as Olivia plops down onto the floor with a soft Disney Princess doll she brought from home. The princess has a felt lightsaber, because Olivia is a child of many interests. Ben watches proudly as Liv makes the doll battle a chair leg to the death.

       Suddenly, Portia and Beatrice arrive, escorting a very distraught woman with a very large red purse.

“We’ll be in touch,” Portia calls as the woman dashes out of the office. “Oh, hello Benedick.”

Portia and Nerissa leave the office for their own lunch, Nerissa taking her wife’s hand as they go, and the Duke-Hobbes family is left alone to eat the food they brought from home.

“Hi, guys,” Beatrice grins, kneeling beside Olivia. “It’s so good to see you. What a day.”

“I saw birds! And Daddy saved me!” Olivia says, and Ben is forced to tell the bird chase story, to Beatrice’s combined amusement and disapproval.

       “Only you would let my child almost get into a fight with a bird, Ben,” Beatrice says, rolling her eyes, when Olivia is distracted by the sandwich Bea has cut up into kid-sized bites for her.

“I stopped her!” Ben protests. “She’s fine!”

“I’m teasing,” Bea clarifies. “You’re amazing with the kids, you know that. And I love you.”

“Aw,” Ben says, stealing some of her crisps. “I love you, too, Bea.”

 She pushes Ben's hand away, and then picks up the baby for some cuddles when he opens his eyes.

       “Did you like seeing the birds, sweetie?” Beatrice asks Jamie, rocking him. “It’s okay if you didn’t, you know.”

“Bird!” Jamie shouts happily, adding another to the list of words he knows, and everyone laughs.

“Yes,” Beatrice tells him, whilst winking at Ben. “Very good. I s’pose even _I_   warmed up to bird-watching eventually.”

“I knew it! All good things take time,” Ben grins.

*******

         Back at home, the kids are napping and Ben is left alone for a while. Usually, he uses this time to read, or write more on his idea for a book of literary analysis of the plays of Marlowe. Ben is in his office, writing on a new chapter, when his phone rings.

“Hey, mate,” says Peter Donaldson when Ben picks up. “How are you?”

“Oh, Peter, hey,” Ben says, surprised. “I thought you were filming all this week.”

Peter is a New Zealand-famous stage and screen actor. He’s come so far since uni, and Ben is still trying to make it up to him for being such a shitty friend in their first year at Elizabeth University. That terrible time is a thing of the past now, though. Peter is still good friends with both Ben and Bea, and he calls and visits often.

“We’re still on for the football match this weekend, yeah?” Peter asks now. “Max is so excited to see Olivia again.”

“Yeah, definitely,” Ben says, although he doubts that.

Peter’s five-year-old son is very sweet to Olivia, but she’s so much younger than him, and Ben knows Max isn’t much of a sports kid, to his Papa’s chagrin. Peter’s still trying to get Max excited about football, but he’s more interested in exploring the grass for bugs and wildflowers than kicking a ball across it.

        “Costa’s coming, too,” Peter says, then jokes. “He can’t wait to see you guys again, get some more material for his next play.”

“Oh, fuck off, mate,” Ben says, lowering his voice so the children definitely won’t hear. He’s joking too, though, and Peter laughs. Costa has been known for his semi-autobiographical dramas- even if they’re not all his stories to tell. Ben and Bea gave their blessing the only time one of his webseries referenced them, but Costa and Peter still like to tease.

“I promise, it’ll be fun,” Peter says. “I know Bea’s excited, she’s been texting me all season about how her team is better than mine, but we’ll see when they finally play each other.”

Bea, in fact, religiously tracks the team’s stats, and has already gotten a tiny jersey for each of her children and tried to teach Olivia how to kick a ball. She’s still as competitive and fiery as ever.

“Be careful,” Ben laughs. “No one gets between my wife and her sports teams. Just like your husband and the stage.”

“His first love,” Peter says. “And mine, fortunately. So there’s no competition.”

Peter’s tone is laced with love for the man he married. Ben can actually hear Costa chasing after Max somewhere in the background.

Ben smiles to himself. Sometimes it feels extraordinary that he and his friends are finally happy and settled and adults. They’re all so _boring_ now, and it’s honestly kind of wonderful.

“So we’ll see you all Saturday?” he says. “Perfect.”

“Great, see you then!” Peter says, and clicks off.

*******

         When Beatrice gets home that evening, Olivia is watching cartoons on the floor while coloring in a coloring book. Ben is stretched out on the couch behind her, keeping an eye on her while James rests on his chest, awake but calm and enjoying the cuddles.

Once she’s finished hugging Olivia hello, Beatrice takes out her phone and snaps a few pictures of Ben and the baby. “I never want to forget how adorable this is,” she says. “We’re so lucky.”

“We are, love,” Ben smiles, sitting up with James still in his arms. “We really are.”

        Dinner and the resulting bath time go off without a hitch, as much as they ever can. A quick bedtime story, and then Ben and Bea tuck both little ones into their beds and turn out the lights.

“So how was the rest of your day?” Ben asks, stretching out next to Beatrice in their own bed, setting his current library book on the bedside table for later. “Better, I hope?”

Beatrice shrugs. “All right. I’m just glad I’m home now.”

“Me too, Bea,” is all that Ben can say, before his wife leans in close, and he nods his consent and kisses her.

        She eases herself up to sit on his lap, her legs around his waist and his hands on her body, and then they’re making out like a couple of teenagers in love for the first time. Her tongue slips into his mouth, and they’re both breathing heavily, shaking with desire. Clothes come off and brains go fuzzy as they forget the rest of the world, lost in each other.

And then a high-pitched cry comes through on the baby monitor, shattering the moment. They pull apart, laughing and gasping, and Beatrice grabs her nightshirt and gets up to check on James.

        Ben lays back and tries to catch his breath, watching the love of his life as she heads down the hall to take care of their son.

Yeah, they're lucky, all right. You might even say, blessed.

*******


End file.
